Genius of the Restoration......

Cafe Society
1

In the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade there’s this odd little scene where Sean Connery, as Prof. Henry Jones, Sr., breaks into the tank to rescue Marcus (Denholm Elliot). He taps Marcus on the shoulder, and says something (too fast for me to catch), accompanied by arm-flapping and nose-tugging gestures. Marcus responds with an even more obscure counter-phrase, also accompanied by flapping and tugging.

This had bothered me for years. I couldn’t catch what Connery was saying (“Hero of the Western Seas?”) Elliot’s response seemed to be in Latin or Greek, or even reversed English. (“Et tu resto something-something?”)

Through the wonders of captioned DVDs, I now learn that Connery is saying “Genius of the Restoration”, and Marcus responds with “Aid to our Resuscitation”. There is no way I would have divined this from the dialogue itself.

Still, what the hell is it? Through the wonders of the Internet, I found the answer in a few places, all of which seem to derive from Jeffrey Boam’s script, which is online in its entirety.(If I’d known that, I would’ve been able to look into this before the DVD came out).

The exchange is a “University Club toast”. But tyhat still doesn’t help. Which University? A real one, or one of the fictional ones associated with the Joneses? Even if it’s fictional, I suspect it’s based on some real toast/exchange. And what the hell does it mean? I can’t find anything on the Internet on this.
Can any Dopers help me out?

2

Apparently, you’re not the only one wondering. I found this . Hope it is of some help.

3

My guess would be that it involves alcohol. King William III (William of Orange) enacted laws encouraging distillation in England (e.g., gin, which I believe was a Dutch invention). That was in 1689. Of course, the Restoration usually refers specifically to the reign of Charles II, doesn’t it? And gin was being distilled before the Commonwealth, under Charles I. So that doesn’t really help us.

4

I’m bumping this because I’d really like to know the answer.

5

I’d say it was a secret Skull and Bones signal, but I can’t because I’d have to leave the room.

– Ukulele “For the sake of the whatever’s son” Ike